Forex news from the European morning session 20 March 2015
News:
- Germany says it's now up to Greece to come up with concrete proposals
- Germany's Gabriel sees only short-term benefit from low oil prices and weak euro
- Three Japanese public pension funds join GPIF model portfolio
- Varoufakis looking forward by explaining a few things from the past
- Option expiries 10am NY cut 20 March
Data:
- UK PSNBR Feb GBP +6.2bln vs +7.7bln exp
- German PPI Feb mm +0.1% vs +0.2% exp
- Eurozone current account SA Jan EUR 29.4bln vs 22.5bln prev
- Nikkei 225 closes up + 0.43 % at 19,560.22
Given all the fun n games it's perhaps not surprising that we've been mostly pausing for breath this morning but there's still been some pips to be had for those interested
EURUSD had an early wobble down from 1.0680 to 1.0662 on a general euro sell but it wasn't long before it was recovering some poise to head back to 1.0685 for a while and now pushing through 1.0700 as I type
EURGBP had a similar dip toward 0.7230 but has since posted 0.7255 and looks underpinned still as does EURJPY which is now posting highs of 129.65 in a rush from 128.90 having wiped its feet around 129.20
USDJPY didn't really react to the better Nikkei close but then found the EURJPY buying giving it a lift from 120.85 to take out the 121.00 offers to post 121.20 before dipping. Large option expiries at 121.00 having some impact (see header above)
GBPUSD was largely on the back foot around 1.4735, albeit higher than yesterday's lows, capped again by EURGBP demand. Back up to 1.4771 as I type on general USD-neg sentiment
USDCAD has been steady around 1.2680 but dipping again now while AUDUSD and NZDUSD have forged their way up to 0.7696 and 0.7468
Now let's see what our friends across the pond can add to the picture before we say good-bye to another week
